Informational Interview: Accounting - Coursework Example

? Informational Interview Introduction Accounting is a field that requires one to be good in numbers, commitment and perseverance before one starts to enjoy promotions, good pay and job security. One has to start as a junior officer before he or she gains the skills required to propel them into the CFO positions and senior management position in the industry. An employee working in this field must be ready to help train other junior trainees who are recruited into the organization. The induction exercise should be thorough as one need to be trained well so as service delivery can not be affected in the future. This report includes a summary of questions that were asked to an employee in an accounting field. The questions were prepared to capture challenges one goes through in the field and importance of interpersonal, communication, speaking, team work and written communication among others. Discussion The employee interviewed started to work as a junior accounts manager with future objective of becoming a CFO Manager in a financial related organization. The interviewee chose to work in this field as he is good in Math and this is what he sees as the only way promotion and can secure him any job applied for in other companies. Some of the task assigned to him currently includes managing the trainees’ accounts, communicating with the bank to ensure that the trainees are paid in time (Guffey & Loewy 2010). He also helps in recruiting exercise of accountants for other departments in the organization. The respondents finds the work satisfying as he enjoys working as an accountant, solve new challenges and making other team members happy. He works hard to ensure that he is productive and all that he does is appreciated by both the junior and seniors. Although he enjoys working as an accountant, the work has pressure. He says that he has to ensure that he does not make any mistake it affects line activities above or under him. He works in the salary and finance department where he ensures that salaries are paid in time and the trainees are satisfied and happy to be paid what they have worked for in the past month. The respondent says that the field is very competitive as one goes up the rank, competiveness and challenges increase too. The industry at large requires one to incorporate both the accounting skills, deductive skills and good decision making skills. One is required to make good decisions on when a risk is worth taking; these skills have seen him get promoted twice since he started as a trainee four years ago(Fitch 2007). The respondent has worked in multiple departments that has exposed him well and made him to feel that he is an all round person. This industry requires him to make information he learnt in college. The accounting, etiquette, technical communication skills and business ethics skills learnt in college has helped him to ensure he meets customer satisfaction in his field of work. Over time, the respondent says that he knows that it is possible to project customer’s future needs. This is important as they need to safe guard the company image at all cost. The employees are required to have the right morale and attitude as they work; to achieve this, the respondent says that they calculate the economic growth and from there salary increment for the employees is increased accordingly. Employee’s performance is not only measured from how much money one brings into the company, but it incorporates a mixture of other factors like one’s hard work, work ethics, creativity and communication within the employees and to customers. The company values employee’s creativity and productivity. The respondent wants to see himself in a senior management position in the coming five to ten years. The position he is aspiring to hold by then includes project manager and to manage his own department, as he aspires to be a CFO later on. The communication needs in this field is effective and a mistakes can put an employee in a lot of trouble. The respondent says that in his position, all lines of communication must be open as salary department is an important office in this field. All the other offices above him; like departmental office, financial offices and department heads must keep communication open as one need to have good leadership qualities. This is so as one command and leads a large group of employees (Carter 2007). An employee must be able to respect others, so as he is respected too and have both good speaking and listening skills to enable them manage others well. The interviewee rates the importance of interpersonal skills highly in this field. This is rated highly as one has to have these skills in-order to maintain control, recognize other’s interests, communication flexibility and motivating others. The interviewee also rated the importance of organizational effectiveness as it enables an employee in this field to do self-assessment in relation to employer’s needs, asses personal work habits and evaluating one’s personal liability. The other importance the respondent rates highly is the importance of writing skills. This aspect is rated highly in accounting industry as one must be clear and organized in keeping the work related records, as employers and customers need precise records that can be understood easily, this way, customers will be satisfied with services offered in this organization. This is an important skills as oral or speaking skills, that the respondent rated highly also, as they are interrelated. The respondent says that an employee must be able pass information to customers, fellow employees and senior officers. This avoids misunderstanding and avoids wasting time explaining something for long eating into productive time for every involved person. The respondent says that speaking well; clearly and to the point made him be promoted easily offer a short time. The last aspect the respondent rated highly is; importance of presentation. He says that presentation skills enable one to be relevant in this competitive field. One is not only viewed as cable without presenting himself in good mannerism that attracts customers and allows other employees to have confidence in you. This is rated highly by the respondents as one stands out if his or her presentation skills are outstanding compared to other employees. This skill must work hand-in-hand with other communication skills like speaking and effective communication. One has to remember that, the audience concentrates on mannerism, dressing, speaking and other presentation factors like gestures. This means that one’s idea can be an important one but presentation can put off audience from the start. From our discussion, it has been observed that communication is important in promoting good interpersonal relations that also promotes good teamwork. There are various things that one needs to know in order to promote interpersonal relationships. These includes being empathetic, establishing the motivational needs of each individual and recognizing others interests. These factors are also important in presentation and ensuring that an audience gets the correct message. It is thus important to note that for the audience to get the correct message, all factors that influence communication should be taken into consideration. References Carter, F. (2007). Accounting careers: Adding interest to your future!. Ultimo, N.S.W Fitch, T. (2007). Banking, Finance, and Insurance. New York: Infobase Pub. Guffey, M. E., & Loewy, D. (2010). Essentials of business communication. Mason, OH: South-Western/Cengage Learning. Read More